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Thursday, 24 November 2011

On the 20th-23rd of November I trained two days of Slalom and two days of Giant Slalom with Matthew, on the Champagny run. Despite a lot of constructive criticism and little positive feedback I have started to experience new feelings in Giant Slalom, which is something I am very excited about!

Athletes from Proctor Academy (New Hampshire, US) have been staying in the same hotel as me this week and kindly invited me to train with them. As I have a four day break I decided to take the opportunity and skied my first day with them today! We trained GS on 3500, a little steeper gradient than Champagny. It was a great day and really interesting to work with different coaches and contrast their feedback with my current objectives. This lunchtime we stopped at Aspen Café for lunch and I greedily chose a waffle with nutella and whipped cream as I felt I deserved a treat! For the next couple of days we will be training slalom and I can’t wait!

To the left is a photo of myself and Mary Denning - She moved from England to Proctor a couple of years ago and its been great catching up with her!

Friday, 18 November 2011

So I have two days off now and i'm going to spend the time prepping all my skis and working out in the gym - possibly involving a lot of yoga as my muscles seem fairly tight. On Sunday I start training again with Matthew for four more days! Despite some frustrating training I do seem to be progressing well with the current set up and so I saw no point in swapping coaches to train with Stefan. Furthermore I have really enjoyed training with CJ, Lewis and Elliot (the other brits).

My first set of races were to be held in Val Thorens on the 26th and 27th of November however due to poor snow conditions these have been postponed until December 3rd and 4th - this will mean 5 consecutive days of racing from November 30th-December 4th which could get pretty tiring but i'm still really excited. The weather has been sunny for the past week or so, however there is some much needed snow forecast over the next few days - so fingers crossed those races will go ahead.

Monday, 7 November 2011

I moved into the Hotel Diva a week ago and it sure has passed slowly plenty of rain, wind, fog and not much else! There has been a change of plan; Stefan is not coming to the resort for at least another week and so it has been organised for me to train with Frederic Covili from tomorrow onwards. He was the Giant Slalom World Cup Champion in 2002, so I know there is an awful lot I can learn from him. Hopefully some good weather will come and visibility won't be a problem.

Wednesday, 2 November 2011

Above is a picture of me and CJ - I joined her group for slalom training on Monday and Tuesday coached by JB Fourrat and Matthew. I now have a five day break until I start training again. I intend to hit the gym and work on my upper body strength and agility - two of my weakest areas! However I have to admit the next few days will also involve a lot of Gossip Girl, reading, learning French and skiing around the mountain with my Ipod. From Monday 7th onwards I will be training with a new coach named Stefan; I will be solely focussing on Giant Slalom as its important for my skiing and I cannot wait!

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I began my blog in October 2011 just before embarking on my gap year - a ski season training and racing. This blog is primarily to keep my friends and family up-to-date with my skiing progress! However if you are interested in supporting my ski racing please don't hesitate to contact me via email oliviaroseparker@hotmail.co.uk Thankyou!